Conway casts off doubt with bronze
It took four years for the wounds of London 2012 to heal, but as a beaming Sally Conway clutched her bronze medal in the women’s 70kg judo, she had to admit it had all been worth it. A single yuko against Bernadette Graf, of Austria, was sufficient to claim Britain’s first judo medal of these Games.
For Conway, who left London empty-handed while watching her training partner Gemma Gibbons pick up silver and charm the nation, it was a sort of redemption.
In a sport as capricious and unpredictable as judo, there can never be any guarantees. And at the age of 29, Conway knew this could be her last chance.
“It feels absolutely amazing,” she said. “I’m so happy. I can’t put it into words. London 2012 was such an amazing experience, but also a massive disappointment. But it’s all worth it. Every moment.”
The thing about an Olympic medal – of any colour – is that it is never simply a medal. For smaller sports like judo, it can be the difference between a funding increase and a funding cut.
And so Conway, the world No10 who trains in Edinburgh under the tutelage of another former Olympic medallist in Kate Howey, dedicated her success to the entire British team, as well as the people who picked her up off the mat after she bombed out of her home Games four years ago in tears.
“The whole team has just been amazing for the last four years,” she said. “To qualify the amount of players we’ve qualified this time is so good.
“That bronze medal isn’t just for me. It’s for my family, friends, coaches, anyone who has ever supported me. I’m just happy I can bring a medal back.”
Yet after cruising into the semifinals, beating world No 3 Gévrise Émane of France along the way, another disappointment seemed to be on the cards when she was thrown on to her back by world No 2 Yuri Alvear, of Colombia, in the sudden-death golden score period.
After London 2012, Conway got a one-word tattoo put on her right arm. It says “Believe”. And with just minutes to compose herself before fighting for bronze, Conway consulted it once again.
“One minute you’ve got a chance of becoming an Olympic champion, the next you’re fighting for bronze. I didn’t have much time to think. I just had to get that bronze. It’s never leaving my sight.”